The City of Santa Cruz successfully cut its salary base by 3.8 percent in order to meet its budget, the Sentinel reports. This meant more furloughs and positions remaining unfilled, forcing other city employees to pick up the slack. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the SCPD.
The local police force reduced its payroll by 3.3 percent, but that’s only half the story. According to Police Chief Kevin Vogel, the force was left with eight vacant positions, which had to be covered by overtime. In fact, in 2010, overtime payments for the SCPD reached $1.2 million, 40 percent more than in 2009. Some high-ranking officers, including Vogel, do not get overtime. By contrast, Officer Carter Jones earned $152,319, one-third of that overtime. According to Vogel, the overtime was necessary because crime is up. That rate is expected to drop again this year now that four additional officers have been hired. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
